Bunjevci

Bunjevci (Serbo-Croatian: Bunjevci / Буњевци, pronounced [bǔɲeːʋtsi, bǔː-]; singular masculine: Bunjevac / Буњевац, feminine: Bunjevka / Буњевка) are a South Slavic sub-ethnic group of Croats living mostly in the Bačka area of northern Serbia and southern Hungary (Bács-Kiskun County), particularly in Baja and surroundings, in Croatia (e.g. Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Lika-Senj County, Slavonia, Split-Dalmatia County, Vukovar-Srijem County), and in Bosnia-Herzegovina. They presumably originate from western Herzegovina. As a result of the Ottoman conquest, some of them migrated to Dalmatia, from there to Lika and the Croatian Littoral, and in the 17th century to the Bácska area of Hungary.

Bunjevci who remained in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as those in modern Croatia today, maintain that designation chiefly as a regional identity, and declare as ethnic Croats. Those who emigrated to Hungary underwent an extensive process of integration and assimilation. In the 18th and 19th century they made up a significant part of the population of Bácska. The government of Hungary considers the Bunjevac community to be part of the Croatian minority.

Bunjevci in Serbia and Hungary, are split between those who see themselves as a Croatian sub-ethnic group (bunjevački Hrvati) and those who identify themselves as a distinct ethnic group with their own language. The latter are represented in Serbia by the Bunjevac National Council. and the former by the Croat National Council.

Bunjevci are mainly Catholic and the majority still speaks Neo-Shtokavian Younger Ikavian dialect of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language with certain archaic characteristics. Within the Bunjevac community and between Serbia and Croatia, there is an unresolved political identity conflict regarding ethnicity and nationality of Bunjevci and an ongoing language battle over the status of the Bunjevac speech as well.